Dive Brief:
- President Donald Trump said during a press conference Monday that he could deploy the National Guard to address crime in cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore and Oakland, California, as he did Monday in Washington, D.C.
- In addition to mobilizing 800 District of Columbia National Guard troops “to address the epidemic of crime in our Nation’s capital,” Trump signed a presidential memorandum to use the Washington, D.C., police department for federal purposes, a move allowed under the Home Rule Act.
- Washington, D.C., officials and mayors from across the country pushed back against the orders. “America’s mayors never see takeovers by other levels of government as a tactic that has any track record of producing results,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors President David Holt, mayor of Oklahoma City, in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Although Trump called Washington, D.C., “under siege from out-of-control violent crime,” the Council on Criminal Justice notes that “there is an unmistakable and large drop in reported violence in the District since the summer of 2023,” and “that downward trend is consistent with what’s being reported in other large cities across the country.”
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said during a Monday press conference that violent crime is at a 30-year low in D.C. and called Trump’s actions “unsettling and unprecedented.”
Bowser acknowledged that D.C.’s Home Rule Charter gives Trump the authority to use D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes, but said, “I don’t want to minimize the intrusion on our autonomy.”
Trump said during the press briefing that National Guard troops could “do whatever the hell they want” to fight crime, clear homeless encampments and prevent destruction of statues and monuments. “We will bring in the military if it’s needed,” Trump said.
D.C. At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson noted on D.C. radio station WAMU that Trump’s comments “should be concerning to everyone, the suggestion that law enforcement would not need to follow the Constitution or existing standard operating procedures.”
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb posted on X that the Trump administration’s actions “are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful” and said his office is “considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents.”
During the press briefing, Trump said he would “look at New York in a little while” and, “if we need to, we’re going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster.”
“We have to get rid of sanctuary cities, too,” he said. “We have to. Because it’s a sanctuary for criminals.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement that sending in the National Guard “would only serve to destabilize our city and undermine our public safety efforts.”
In June, Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 California Army National Guard soldiers and 500 Marines to Los Angeles after protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids erupted in the downtown area.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed suit against the actions, accusing the Trump administration of violating the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids the use of the U.S. military for civil law enforcement. The second day of a three-day trial in California federal district court over that lawsuit is underway today.
“Local control is always best,” the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Holt said. “We hope federal officials will work directly in partnership with Mayor Bowser and her public safety team to continue the reduction in crime that has already occurred in D.C. A partnership — not a takeover — will produce the best outcomes for the people of Washington and the city’s many visitors.”
National Police Association spokesperson Betsy Brantner Smith applauded Trump’s actions and said, “This will be an example for the rest of the country that local law enforcement can partner with federal partners.”
